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Vanessa Delcroix
Vanessa Delcroix Vanessa Delcroix is an important Radilus Tower politician serving as an Elder on the Ulthiman Council and previously having served as Prefect of Beaullier and Marvais. She is a signature character of the Radilus clan. Life Born in 416 AU to a minor Marvaisan lord in Beaullier, Vanessa Delcroix served as a handmaiden to the Countess of Beaullier and a political advisor to the count. She was not the most beautiful of handmaidens and was arranged to marry a minor knight. She was known in court to scheme successfully against other handmaidens to her own advantage and eventually got her marriage rearranged to a lord in a distant Marvaisan city. This made the supernaturals hiding in the court of the Count of Beaullier interested in her. It was a travelling courtier known for his tendency to quickly rise to prominence in court by the name of Geoffroi Durand, who by night was a Radilus from Marvais who enraptured and embraced Delcroix in 437 AU Early Unlife Turned to be arm candy for the swaggering figure of Durand, the duo fled Beaullier and head to Marvais where the court of Prefect Gregory Brunelle the famed Lilin, the court of the Prefect was a place of intense political intrigue and showmanship and Vanessa was intended to be simply a trophy companion to parade around the court. Vanessa had different plans. She spent her nights as a consort to Durand wisely, gaining allies and removing enemies from the Prefect's court. Durand was named Decrier of the Prefecture of Marvais and Delcroix used this to gain the ear of Prefect Brunelle and his Courtmaster, the Malthusian Antoine Dechein. Durand disappeared in 444 AU and the Prefect named Delcroix his replacement. Decrier of Marvais As Brunelle's speaker Delcroix was wealthy and successful but not content to be the servant. Controversially she resigned as Decrier in 445 AU and returned to Beaullier. Barony in Beaullier Using her wealth to buy a small castle and a few businesses and guilds in Beaullier, Delcroix became Baron of the cities western district also known as the Crafts District. She ruled over the crafts district and was secretly head of many of the guilds. She was the most powerful and only female Baron in Beaullier, the Prefect, a Judan named Francois DePours, was not a fan of Delcroix. Delcroix was never listened to at convention and this aggravated her so by 450 AU when she was the richest Baron she called in favours. Using the guilds to hire thugs to cripple DePours businesses, using her other money to bribe other Barons, she declared an intent of Praxis against DePours claiming she had more right to the Prefecture as he was broke and his barons were against him. With no support from his barons DePours was forfeit as Prefect and the title was handed to Delcroix. This smart power play impressed many Radilus. Prefect of Beaullier Her dominion over the city was unstoppable and she had clearly conquered local Beaullier supernatural politics and no Baron dared oppose her. So she set her eyes on the national scale. Working with Brunelle in fighting the Diabol and Unbound and opposing the Tower's common enemies. It was Delcroix in 453 AU that signed the "Shared Forces Agreement" that allowed Beaullier and Marvais' Bailiffs to combine forces and police the whole of the Principality outside of Prefectures not in on the agreement. Delcroix became known as a sort of benelevont Queen of Beaullier. She did not care about her Barons opinions but she did not bug them. Her style of Prefecture is very typical Radilus in that she viewed it as a kingdom rather than a governing judge position its supposed to be. Delcroix would be Prefect of Beaullier for the entire medieval era without so much of a slight challenge. Things changed as the renaissance came though. Delcroix made an error in not keeping up with the times and buying new businesses. The Crafts District evolved and a young upstart Radilus named Lucien Pichard took the crafts district has his Barony and established control over new stronger Guilds. Delcroix was choked by Pichards influence and had to listen to him. By 555 AU Pichard was essentially in charge of the city. These developments choked her influence with other Prefects and important figures in the Tower such as Rufio the Younger. Delcroix was enraged by Pichard's disrespect and dominance over her so she pulled an odd manoeuvre. She offered the city to Pichard. Pichard of course excepted and became Prefect. Not long into Lucien Pichard's Prefecture the Diabol moved into the usually Tower stronghold city in alarming numbers and blew up Pichard's underground haven, killing him instantly. While the Diabol took Beaullier somehow Delcroix moved to Marvais once again. Return to Marvais Returning to Gregory Brunelle's court in 557 AU was controversial of Delcroix but she was welcomed. She was named Elder of the Radilus Clan in the city and she opened up a Regency in a manor in central Marvais. Antoine Dechein was assassinated in 558 AU and Brunelle named Delcroix his replacement as Courtmaster. Courtmaster of Marvais As Keeper of Brunelle's court Delcroix was a traditionalist. Supporting Brunelle's alliance with the royal family and using the Shared Forces Agreement to make a force large enough to take back Beaullier though she declined the Prefecture. She was successful and popular in court and to reward her for taking many pressures off his back Brunelle named her to the post of Seneschal. The second in charge of a Prefecture. in 567 AU Seneschal of Marvais As Brunelle's Seneschal Delcroix was calculating and careful and fought to preserve the Tower and ensure the barons loyalty to Brunelle. Brunelle was known to ghoul members of the royal family and Delcroix is the one that got him to stop that and influence the royals through other means. All was well for 100 years but by 667 AU revolution was brewing and Seneschal Delcroix was convinced it was the work of the Unbound. She warned Brunelle but Brunelle did not take the threat seriously basking in the arts instead. Delcroix carefully navigated the climate and organized a deal with peasant republican leader Napoleon Macron. Macron agreed to spare Delcroix and was unaware of her true nature. When the revolution came to marvais in 693 AU the peasants stormed the Princes Palace. Delcroix disappeared in the chaos and Brunelle and his court attempted to escape through underground passages, only to be intercepted by Unbound Raumi Assassins. Brunelle was killed and his court was primarily decimated. Leaving Seneschal Delcroix to the city. Prefect of Marvais She summoned an emergency meeting of the cities Barons and stressed the importance of the Tower remaining in spite of the revolution and warned of the Unbound invasion. She submitted her claim for Prefecture and the Barons gave her praxis. Making her the Prefect of Marvais. Her first act was relocating the court to a manor in a upscale district and appointing a new Bailiff in the Naberian Louis. She used the Bailiff to police the Unbound and managed to kick them out of the city by 694 AU. Delcroix than fought to modernize the Tower in Marvais. She used ghouls to inflitrate and control the newspapers and guilds and opened the Delcroix Ballroom in the Prince District. Her court was grand and featured a throne and golden lions. Her relationship with her Barons was antagonistic and they tried to oust her a few times but she used her Bailiff and Justicars to keep them in line. By the beginning of the Industrial Revolution the Golden City was under firm Tower control and Delcroix reigned supreme. She mentored her Decier, the Lilin Évrard Gaume, to be her successor as she grew bored with reigning supreme over the city of marvais. She saught to rule over a larger Kingdom. In 733 AU she willingly resigned as Prefect and Évrard Gaume was named her successor and his praxis was not challenged. Radilus Elder Now at the age of 300 by 737 Delcroix was old and prestigious. After leaving the Prefecture she moved to Beaullier and served on the Council of Elders, training young Radilus. In the 740s to 750s she served as Seneschal of Rufio the Younger who at the time was Prefect of Anzenia. In 751 AU she moved to Ulthima, the de facto capital of the Tower. She became a Baron in Kentro, making her the most influential Baron in the city. She lead a rebellion against the corrupt Prefect and was to be named Prefect but declined, offering it to her ally and being made a member of the Council of Elders of Ulthima in 763 AU. She has served n that council since and everyone wonders what her next move will be. Events of Nazareth by Night Not long after the declaration of the Tower forming in Nazareth Delcroix was in many scenes with the prefect over phone. She advised him and stressed the importance of Nazareth to the Council in Ulthima. Visiting on one occasion with regiment of ghouls and intimidating the Prefect. She returned to Ulthima after but was back in nazareth after the debacle at the Museum on orders to kill the Prefect, she offered him another chance though spending influence to do so. She was last seen on a phone call with Kargul , Godwin, over the sarcoghugus.She was reintroduced in Season 2 over the phone with Lester, a lieutenant of the Crime Lord in Lower Paradise. She seems interested in him dominating the city. Quotes Nazareth By Night: "I serve the Tower because the Tower serves me" - Spoken to Lester Personality Vanessa Delcroix is a demon of immense power and intelligence, she is known in Ulthima to be the most calculating of the Elders, making every move only once she's certain it'll lead to a checkmate. She is equally conniving as she is calculating and is constantly engaged in plots to further her authority over the Tower. In the rare instances where her plots and projects fail she is incredibly disheartened and some close say she can erupt into a great rage.